When to Plant Eggplants in Riverside, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Riverside can be used to determine when it's the best time to plant eggplants.


Planting Calendar for Eggplants

Frost tolerance for eggplants: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

Eggplants require warm weather which means that it is important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant eggplants
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant eggplants
Probably not a good time to plant eggplants

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Riverside is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant eggplants and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your eggplants may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your eggplants indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Riverside. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Riverside is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Riverside you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your eggplants if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Riverside

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Riverside

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Riverside.